Common Bulbul
Pycnonotus barbatus
LCLeast Concern
- Family
- Bulbuls (Pycnonotidae)
- Order
- Passeriformes
Overview
The common bulbul (Pycnonotus barbatus) is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is widespread throughout most of Africa except for the very arid areas, and has recently begun breeding in southernmost Spain. Ten subspecies are recognised based on the geographical variation in plumage. Some of these were formerly considered as separate species: Dodson's bulbul, the Somali bulbul and the dark-capped bulbul.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Countries
- Algeria
- Angola
- Benin
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Djibouti
- DR Congo
- Egypt
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Kenya
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Oman
- Republic of the Congo
- Rwanda
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Spain
- Sudan
- Syria
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Tunisia
- Uganda
- Western Sahara
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Common bulbul
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.
